Carl DeMaio Proposes “California Secure Borders” Initiative to Combat Illegal Immigration

For the past 30 years, political observers in California have falsely declared that then-Governor Pete Wilson was a racist to raise illegal immigration as an issue during the 1994 campaign. With the border crisis even worse today, California State Assembly candidate Carl DeMaio has released his first campaign ad entitled “Pete Wilson Was Right!”

DeMaio chastises current California Republican politicians and their political consultants for “cowardice and incompetence” when it comes to border security and illegal immigration. DeMaio released a 3-point “California Secure Borders” Initiative for emergency state action on the border crisis that includes:

• Deployment of the CA state guard to the border
• Repeal of the Sanctuary State Law
• Immediate revocation of recently-approved state and local funding for several state welfare programs for illegal immigrants – including taxpayer-funded health insurance and legal defense programs.
  

Unlike Wilson’s Prop 187 proposal, DeMaio’s proposal targets new discretionary welfare programs that California Democrats have created in the last 10 years at a cost of billions to California taxpayers – such as free taxpayer-funded health insurance programs that went into effect January 1, 2024 and a program to give free lawyers to illegal immigrants fighting deportation.  

DeMaio also is calling for San Diego County to suspend a “welfare navigator program” for illegal immigrants it recently created at a cost of $6 million in local taxpayer funds.

“By funding overly-generous welfare programs for illegal immigrants, California Democrats are helping human traffickers and cartels exploit migrants by providing an enticing reward that incentivizes more illegal immigration,” DeMaio noted. “We need to stop helping human traffickers by giving these goodies away,” DeMaio concluded.

DeMaio said he will advance the California Secure Borders Initiative in three phases. First DeMaio will make support for the initiative part of the criteria that Reform California uses in endorsing state and local candidates across the state. Reform California’s voter guide is the most widely used voting guide in the state.  Second, DeMaio will introduce legislation to enact the California Secure Borders policies through the state legislature. Third, assuming the Super-Majority Democrats refuse to act, DeMaio is prepared to force the issue onto the ballot for a public vote using the citizens’ initiative process.